We're crazy about our roots

11:00 AM,
May 13, 2014

Written by

Gregory Rodriguez

Alex Haley, author of the hugely popular 1976 book "Roots," once said black Americans needed their own version of Plymouth Rock, a genesis story that didn't begin - or end - at slavery. His 900-page American family saga, which reached back to 18th century Gambia, certainly delivered on that. It also shared with Americans the emotional and intellectual rewards that can come with discovering the identity of your ancestors.

No one knew it at the time, but Haley's best-seller and the blockbuster television miniseries that aired a year later were the beginnings of a new genealogy craze that would ...